Wednesday 27 July 2011

Cloudier than forecast !

On Monday evening I had a second shoot with Camilla-Rose.

The first time you work with a model you're not sure what to expect, with Camilla the first shoot was very good, this second shoot was even better. Her talent and ability cause you to forget she hasn't been modelling for very long. The more she does, the more she loves it and the more her confidence builds. She knows what she is trying to achieve with a pose and works very hard to get it right first time, which she usually does. She is already a very talented model.

For this latest shoot she put up with flies - again, hot air balloons, nearby traffic and negotiating deep and tangled heather and hidden boulders in fading light ! But none of it phased her or caused her to complain.

We had a great time as well as getting more very pleasing images !

It might be uncomortable, but if it will make a great shot, she will do it !

Camilla tells me she is clumsy at times so when she is scrambling around situations like this I worry about her 
What's down there ?
Oh, it's me !
This sums Camilla up beautifully
But when she needs to be serious she does it so well  
We had hoped for more sun, but this was very welcome

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Fun amongst the ferns

Last week I finally managed to have a shoot with ERosanne, I say finally as I have admired and hoped to work with Ros for some years. When I first saw some of her work she lived quite near me and we discussed working together. One way or another either becuase of  time, the weather or some other reason the opportunity didn't arise. Then Ros moved down to Hertfordshire and I thought I might never get the chance to work with her.


Then in the winter I saw that Ros was back near me, so got in touch. We had snow lying and both liked the idea of shooting at a ruined mansion house we know, but the snow was too deep meaning although only around 20 miles apart we couldn't get together, my hopes dashed again.

When I saw recently that Ros is to take a break from modelling I thought it's now or possibly never. Ros kindly made some time for me and suggested a location I wouldn't have thought of, and though the weather wasn't perfect on the day it was good enough. We both had a fun time as well as getting some great images.

I just wish I had been able to work with her sooner and hopefully will again before too long.


As you can see, as well as sunshine we had some threatening clouds!


These rocks are gritstone and are very rough textured, I thought this crevice had so much potential but wasn;t sure Ros could get in there without hurting herself. But she very bravely and carefully got in and created some great images.   
How she managed to move around in the confined space and without grazing herself badly I don't know. I am eternally grateful to her.

I am also very grateful that she suggested this location, which is a busy and popular part of the Peak District. We  could hear and occassionally glimpsed other people but they didn't see us.
Around this time Ros said the location was like Jurasic Park, I said we are ok as long as they haven't released the predators !
If we were going to be spotted it was now ! We got away with it though 
A beautiful model, fantastic feeatures and textures to work with, what more could a photographer ask for ?

Sunday 17 July 2011

A dreary day and a beautiful model

Camilla and I had pencilled in the evening of July the 12th 2011 for our first shoot together with a back up evening should the weather let us down. That morning the forecast said a grey start but improving by the afternoon. Camilla checked with me first thing that we were still on, trusting the forecast we confirmed.

Early afternoon and it did indeed start to brighten up, but it was short lived. I hoped it was only a temporary lapse, it wasn't. Should I contact Camilla and postpone ? The alternative date might be worse, Camilla might think I just didn't want to work with her, I left the plans in place.

When I got to the meeting point it was darker than ever and with a cool wind ! Camilla arrived seconds after me, with a big smile and a bubbly personality. After a quick introduction we set off to the first location. All wa squiet and we were shooting within seconds while we had the site to ourselves.
Off to a great start

Camilla told me as we worked that she has only been modelling a short time, and only art nude for a short part of that time, hard to believe as she is so skilled and comfortable with her modelling

Don't be fooled by the blue sky, it lasted abot 30 seconds !

This is how the sky looked the rest of the time

I said I hoped Camilla was warm enough, she said that the adrenalin warms you up!

It's a very popular spot with locals, but with features like this to work with it's worth the risk of discovery                

You can see how worn the paths are from frequent visitors



Anyone coming ?

Around this time a lady jogger suddenly appeared, there wasn't time to cover or hide Camilla
It was darker still under the trees but we gave it a go
From the place of the above image we worked our way back up onto the top of the hill coming out at a different point hoping for some more shots at this wonderful location. But there was by now an old chap looking for signs of Bilberries and some youths near the rocks. Time to move on.

We went to a nearby wood. As we worked through the wood we could see some last minute sunshine on the edge of the wood, by the time we got there it had gone. With little time left we decided to try a few final shots, I had little hope of getting anything in the dark wood with the sun dipped below the horizon as well as cloud!

So it was quite pleasing to get some shots like this !

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Sunshine and showers

Thursday July 7th 2011 was a day of mixed weather, the model wasn't local to me and was making a special journey for me, so we had to go with what we got. We had a couple of showers and some thunder, in between it was sunny and warm although the ground and vegatation were very wet. At least Gestalta's clothes didn't get wet as she was modelling nude !

We started off at the side of a well known English river.

You can see the rain clouds approaching ! Luckily we weren't far from some large trees which we were able to shelter under when the rain started.
Having done numerous shots by the river and some under the trees whilst waiting for the rain to stop we decided to move to another  location, this first one is quite close to a village and we didn't want to push our luck. We had passed a gorgeous tree on the river bank and both felt it would be good to use if possible. It is only yards from a road, people in cars have their view blocked by a hedge, but tractors, trucks and pedestirans have a grandstand view !

As we got to the tree all was quiet and we decided if we were quick we'd be able to get away with it.
The tree is so gorgeous and offered Gestalta so many options for different poses that we got quite comfortable and forgot just how open the spot is. Neither of us could see the access to the field due to a large bush. All of a  sudden a mans voice said 'Ohhh.....the benefits of being a fishing club member!' Gestalta said 'Sorry!', the fisherman said 'Don't be, that's alright, really it's alright' and on he walked. So we did a few more shots :-)
We then decided we really should move on, as Gestalta dressed a couple walked past on the road, I quickly stood between them and Gestalta!
When we got to the next location it was just starting to rain and thunder, so we sheltered in a barn planning to go into the nearby countryside when the rain stopped. We thought pic's of Gestalta stood nude looking out at the moody skies might work, so off came her clothes. We hadn't captured many images when a lady driving along the nearby road saw Gestalta and started honking her car horn in an angry manner. We had to move on again.

The route I chose took us to the outskirts of a small village with and old water mill. It is somewhere I know well and have often thought would be a great spot for art nudes. Being so close to a village, quite a busy road junction and having a public footpath through the mill grounds I have always ruled it out as unuseable. As we passed the light was good and it was all quiet. We decided to have a quick look around, we were alone, what an opportunity :-)

We had a couple of tense moments when vehicles chose to turn around in the junction just yards from us, we thought we had been spotted through the sparse hedge and they were stopping!

After getting lots of great images here we decided to explore the nearby countryside leading to more great images in a different setting again.
On the way back to the mill I wondered if we could get away with some at a nearby hump backed bridge, nearer still to the village but again somewhere I had often thought would be good to use. Time was too short to drive anywhere else so we went for a look, again we were alone, so again Gestalta was nude and I was clicking away again in seconds. The weather now was glorious and the reflections on the river beautiful.
We created numerous images here under the bridge safe from any prying eyes. We felt the location and weather were now so gorgeous we'd like to do some more out in the open. People often walk over, or just onto the bridge to look at the river, at any moment we could have been caught out, but with little time left and us both on a high we threw caution to the wind - and got away with it :-)

A very pleasurable shoot with a great model :-)